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This past October I contacted Mark about purchasing a 240mm Konosuke HD wa-gyuto w/ichii handle and Ho wood saya which was to be a Christmas gift for me from my girlfriend. He quoted me the price, and said "We should be able to get it within about 6-8 weeks. Maybe less." I figured 6-8 weeks would be enough time to arrive by Christmas even if it was late. I made the purchase OCT 10, payed IN FULL and played the waiting game.

6 weeks later, no word about the knife, I emailed mark to see if there was any progress. He mentioned that Konosuke had the handle, but the blade had not been delivered by the blacksmith yet.

Dec 20, about 10 weeks from the purchase date, still no knife, and no word from Mark letting me know that it was going to be late/miss the quoted ship date; nothing. So i sent an email asking what was going on.

Mark mentioned he had gotten no notification, and offered to install a semi custom handle on my knife for no extra charge. I thought this was VERY generous, but, not at all what i wanted. Bling handles are not my thing, and not to mention I placed a custom order with the ichii handle in mind, specifically. I told him that I'd pass and explained to him my preference for simple standard wa handles in ho, ichii, and burnt chestnut.

Mark then offered, again very generously, to have Kosuke send him an ichii handle and knock off/replace one of the Ho wood handles on a stock Konosuke HD. Again, i declined. While i would have been able to see my knife sooner, I payed full price for a custom Konosuke HD, that i expected to be completely assembled/built by Konosuke, not a work around knife .

After 13 weeks, with no knife, I emailed Mark again, and my knife is still in the order queue. This time Mark offered me a refund, and kept the order open with Konosuke so when the knife is ready i can decide whether or not to buy it.

I have, up until now, been a happy CKtG customer. But after this experience I am left quite unhappy with how my order was handled. I was given an estimated delivery date (6-8 months) and i understand that Mark has no control of when he receives shipments or when the blacksmiths send blades to the grinders/finishers etc. However, I was never communicated that my order would be late, missed, anything. I had to contact Mark to find out the status of my orders.

The bottom line is, I paid IN FULL, Paid IN ADVANCE, and Mark held my money for 13 weeks for nothing but a refund. No knife, No notification, No consolation knife, No Christmas present, No discount, NOTHING.

Mowgs

Lunatic

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:55 pm

Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:00 amPosts: 678

I think you should direct your rage towards Konosuke and not CKTG. Did you ever think that it's christmas and they get an overwhelming amount of not only custome orders, but multiple suppliers begging for more christmas product.

I can understand you're disappointed but Mark tried to please you, he couldn't get you what you wanted in time so he offered a replacement. You had many options that could accommodate your issue, you decided to go with what you originally wanted and that's fine. But you have to understand you can't be an unhappy customer due to knosuke not having an accurate quote on the time.

Nothing but a refund is a load of BS as well. I've gotten others companies outside of kitchen knives that will only give me store credit and charge a restocking fee.

MowgFace

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:03 am

Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:24 amPosts: 449

Lunatic-

If Mark would have emailed me without me having to email him first, I would be less upset. I work in production. If you are going to miss a shipment, you contact your customer to let them know, you NEVER wait until they contact you.

Mowgs

LucaBrasi

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:15 am

Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 7:06 pmPosts: 281

Sure sounds like Mark did just about everything he could to get you the knife , and then offered to rectify the situation in a very reasonable way. Not sure what else he was supposed to do. Manufacturers in the knife game don't seem to be the best at meeting deadlines.

Hell if this is a bad customer review, Mark should be very proud of the job he does.

MowgFace

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:38 am

Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:24 amPosts: 449

Luca

As I had mentioned, I think it's very generous everything Mark offered. But that doesn't make it ok. I ordered a custom knife with a specific handle. The only thing custom is the handle!. So in offering me a different handle to get me the knife sooner, whether semi-custom, custom or not, is beside the point.

Offering to build the knife himself is also very generous. But i payed for a knife made by Konosuke, how it was supposed to be made. Not for some 3rd party, not saying he isn't talented, to put it together.

I don't want my Aston Martin built by Audi. No matter how good Audi is at putting cars together.

Regarding deadlines. If we all know knife makers aren't good at meeting deadlines, why isn't Mark telling people up front.

"It will be about 6-8 weeks, but can take up to 3 months"

He said "6-8 weeks maybe sooner." Whether or not Konosuke gave him that timeline, if you are going to tell your customer a timeline you better hit it, or contact them and let you know.

Are you both saying that Mark shouldn't have contacted me to let me know that the timeline HE gave me is not correct?

Mowgs

Last edited by MowgFace on Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

kalaeb

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:45 am

Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 9:21 pmPosts: 572

Mowgface, I see you point and also the other side. May I ask what the intended purpose of posting in a forum might have been? In almost every forum I have been apart of there has been an understanding to approach things like this via email or pm, it seems as if Mark did everthing in his power to get the knife (which he had NO control over), even adding upgrades at a further cost to himself and when an end amicable result could not be reach offered a full refund.....no gain/loss.

"No consolation knife" are you kidding me?

MowgFace

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:00 am

Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:24 amPosts: 449

This is my review of the situation. I posted under customer reviews, no?

I don't care if I come across as an asshole customer. This forum has plenty of glowing reviews. Are negative reviews unallowed? I have had plenty of great, quick transactions with CKtG too. This one, on the contrary, leaves a bitter taste. Yes I got my money back, but had I not been required to pay in advance for something that could not be guaranteed, it wouldn't be a problem.

pjwoolw

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:33 am

Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2012 1:14 amPosts: 604Location: San Ramon Ca.

I can understand the frustration. I put this under the "you can't win them all" heading for both parties. Has happened to me more times that I can remember as a service provider and a customer.

But going into a purchase / sale without knowing the item in stock is a risk. I would have gone a different direction if the purchase / construction / delivery was time sensitive. To many things to go wrong. Which unfortunately did.

From CKTG's side of the coin dealing with multiple people in another country to produce the item in a timely manner has got to be tough. Especially one custom item. If that is the case.

Sorry it didn't work out for you but I think you jumped the gun going public.

Mark did what he could. Offered all he could to make it right. Sometimes that not enough from the customers perspective. I wouldn't have been happy either. But like I said I would have gone in a different direction given the time frame.

_________________Pete in San Ramon

Melampus

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:13 am

Forum Moderator

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 4:42 pmPosts: 3930Location: USA... mostly.

I resonate with every post in this thread. I think everyone has covered it, but I agree strongly, in that, LUCA"Hell if this is a bad customer review, Mark should be very proud of the job he does."

MOWG <>Personally, I have no problem with your posting the good & the bad... BUT it's not my company. You did communicate with Mark, and he did what he could... WHICH WAS A LOT & MORE THAN MOST.

Side note: I ordered a custom Kono a few years ago, and I was told "AROUND 6-8 months." I was clear with the fact that it was a knife being smithed to order on the other side of the planet by people out of CKTG's control. I waited 11.5 months w/o one word... not one, and then my knife arrived as promised.

Murphy's law rules. I had a knife shipped from Pierre up in Canada on December 8th as a x-mas gift. It's still not here, but its out of his control; I'm not bashing him. I do understand your frustration is that you were not contacted, but it seems as if, you misinterpreted your estimated time of delivery. Seems you heard "ESTIMATED TIME OF DELIVERY," and somehow you interpreted that as "GUARANTEED DELIVERY DATE."

p.s."No consolation knife, No Christmas present, No discount, NOTHING." was very very cute.

_________________Embracing the silence amid a life and land full of static...

MowgFace

Post subject: Re: Unhappy Customer

Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:28 am

Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:24 amPosts: 449

Pjwoolw-

You are right, Mark did all he could in attempt to make it right. After failing to communicate that my knife was to be much later than expected. I was not told it could be "3 months from now" until last Sunday. In the future I may go in a different direction.

Melampus

Did you post a review about your late delivery? If I had known that I was to expect such a late delivery from CKtG I would definitely had gone a different direction. I was not informed whether they were smithed to order, or if they just had to attach the handle prior to shipment, or if they were forged by dwarves with Katy perry shirts on. I was told "About 6-8 Weeks maybe sooner." Which sounds better than "6-8 week but as long as 11.5 months in some cases," but much less helpful. It seems like not communicating late orders is a theme that has occurred on two counts.

Hmm, Misinterpreted my estimated time of delivery. Interesting. I guess I took "6-8 weeks. Maybe sooner." and thought that it MIGHT come sooner than 6-8 weeks. I guess you're right Mel, my interpreting skills might need some work if I should have heard 6 weeks - 3 months.

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